....you can either pay the grocer or pay the doctor. I choose the former.

We all know the benefits to ourselves of eating raw fruits and vegetables for their live enzymes, vitamins, minerals and nutritive value, and the same applies for our dogs. A raw prey model diet is about matching as closely as possible to what a dog would eat in the wild, i.e. whole small animals such as birds, rabbits, rodents etc, together with some larger prey such as deer and other medium sized herbivores as well as some opportunistic prey, perhaps the uneaten remains from another larger carnivore, or other natural carrion.

Why a Raw Diet?

If you compare the physical body to that of a car engine, in order for it to perform properly, it must be supplied with the correct fuel and lubricants. Cheaper or incorrect fuels, often lead to accelerated wear and tear and eventually break down. Our dogs bodies work on the same principles, and a species appropriate raw diet is the only diet that will maximise health and longevity.

Most manufactured dog foods contain a long list of additives, preservatives and grain products. Grains make up the majority of processed, commercial dog food company food sources because they are a cheap way to fill the dog up. Yet dogs do not have the digestive enzymes or system to cope with grains. Grains are one of the biggest sources of allergies in dogs. Many people find when they switch to a raw meat and bone diet, the allergies their dogs had disappear. This is a common result.

Some Benefits of a Raw Diet include:

Improved Teeth, Oral Health and Breath

Did you know that gum disease in dogs can lead to heart problems?

A new study at the University of Purdue examined the records of almost 60,000 dogs and discovered a correlation between gum disease and heart conditions. “Our data shows a clear statistical link between gum disease and heart disease in dogs,” said Larry Glickman, a professor of epidemiology, who conducted the study. He further went on to say “The research is important because gum disease occurs in up to 75% of all dogs by middle age.”

After only a very short time on a raw diet, your dog will have much-improved breath, no tartar and beautifully clean teeth. All without having to visit the veterinary dentist or brush their teeth.

We as human beings, need to get over our veterinary induced fear of feeding whole meaty bones to our dogs. Dogs need whole bone - they were designed to use their teeth to gnaw apart whole raw carcasses, including meaty bones and organs. It is actually "unnatural" for them to eat food that's been reduced from its whole, unadulterated state into a soppy pile of mush then reformed into coloured nuggets. Those sharp teeth in your dog's mouth are there for slicing, tearing and crunching through whole foods - not for gumming up ground pulp which then sticks to their teeth. Over time, a regular diet of ground food can cause plaque and tartar to build up on the teeth, and this can cause gum disease, which can lead to a myriad of health problems. Gums that are weak, inflamed and unhealthy can't support the teeth properly, and dogs that are fed ground foods for a long period of time may risk tooth loss.

Gingivitis and periodontal disease are also an indication of a chronic presence of an increased amount of unhealthy bacteria in the mouth. That bacteria, which is regularly swallowed, in turn affects the entire system. Over time, this can be a major contributing factor in many serious systemic diseases.

One of the great benefits of feeding whole raw food is that it requires some work on the part of the jaws and teeth to hack away at fleshy fibres and bones, and this takes some time. The time it takes to gnaw away at whole meaty bones to the point where swallow-able sized hunks have been torn off, gives the gut time to activate its gastric juices so that when the food finally does hit the stomach, it has a much better chance of being properly digested. Conversely, feeding commercial or even ground food encourages speedy gulping, because it requires no effort or time to consume it, so it arrives so rapidly into the dog’s stomach, that often there's no time for its necessary digestive acids to be fully excreted resulting in poorly digested meals. Such meals may end up causing irritation or indigestion, which can mean a greater chance of them either being vomited up, or coming out the other end in a less than desirable form.

Increased Stimulation

The psychological and physiological challenge of tackling large raw meaty bones is invaluable for the dogs general satisfaction, increased vitality and quality of life. Feeding raw, particularly large pieces, gives our dogs the opportunity to really get a mentally stimulating experience as it takes a lot more mental and physical work for a dog to rip and tear meat off and crunch through bones, often they have to stop and work out exactly how to tackle it. Anyone who feeds raw will know the enjoyment alone from watching their dogs eating and enjoying their meal.

Improved Skin and Coat

This can be one of the first changes you will notice when you start feeding a raw meaty bone diet. If those persistent skin problems suddenly disappear or improve, and you no longer need vet visits, medicated washes, antibiotics, cortisone shots and cortisone tablets, it has to mean something. It is really difficult to ignore the deeply colored, lustrous, thick and healthy coat on a raw fed pet!

Stronger Immune System

We discovered that our newly rescued stray dogs at K9 Rescue struggled for health on a kibble diet, yet their health quickly transformed once switched to raw food, and this led us to promote rawfeeding to all of our adopters. A raw diet normalises and strengthens the immune system. Because the raw meat and bone diet contains a good balance of essential fatty acids and other immune normalizing and strengthening nutrients, it reduces inflammatory conditions and eliminates infections.

Leaner Body Mass

By feeding a Raw meat and bone diet, your pet will lose unwanted fat and gain that much desired increase in muscle mass. This not only makes your pet look better, it increases your pets metabolic rate, its activity levels and its healthy life-span. The effect will be more rapid if you begin a routine exercise program with your dog.

Improved Stool Volume and Odour

Once again this reflects the improved health of the immune system and the remarkable difference that bone eating makes in the production of firm stools which are essential for normal anal sac emptying. In addition, since commercial dog food usually contains a high percentage of carbohydrate based ingredients such as grains, corn and soy which are unnatural to a dogs digestion, the waste product is unnatural, smelly and takes considerably longer to decompose.

A raw dog food diet is designed to mimic a dog’s natural ancestral menu. The whole concept of raw feeding is based upon a dog’s instinctive carnivorous bias — a built-in desire to capture (or find) and eat another animal.

Wolf with Raw Food
As unsavory as it may seem, it is completely natural for a wolf to consume the entire animal.
Meat, bones, organs and all.
As direct descendants of wolves, dogs are simply not genetically optimized to consume the 50% carbohydrate content of today’s commercial kibbles.

So, how do these diets compare?
The Ancestral Diet
Compared to Dry Kibble
No one can argue the dry baked pellets we call dog food aren’t convenient. Yet the nutrient profile of a dry kibble is nowhere near the nutrient content of a dog’s ancestral diet.
Canine Ancestral Diet versus Dry Dog Food
Notice the higher carbohydrate content of the kibble compared to the dog’s natural ancestral diet. Or how about the dramatically lower protein and fat levels?

The Benefits of a Raw Diet
Feeding a raw dog food diet has many notable benefits…
Firmer stools
Improved digestion
Healthier skin and coat
Reduced allergy symptoms
Better weight management
There have been many reports of improved health when chronically ill pets were switched from a commercial product to a raw dog food.
The Downside
of a Raw Dog Food Diet
A raw dog food diet can’t touch the convenience of a kibble. Just measure and pour. It just doesn’t get any easier.
Yet besides the lack of convenience, there’s another critical issue. Bacterial contamination.
Salmonella and E. coli germs can always be a potential problem with raw meats. Yet the risk of food-borne disease is actually quite low.
That is, low risk for dogs. But not for humans.
That’s because a dog’s digestive system is shorter and more acidic.
Which makes canine infections like these fairly rare.
The real risk of food-borne disease is actually greater for a dog’s human caretakers — not the dog.
Yet with proper care and handling, this risk can be dramatically reduced.